What the Stork Brings
by itsallinmyhead
Summary: When Emmett's wife dies in childbirth, he tries to cope with fathering his baby and being alone, until one fateful day he finds everything thing that he needs somewhere unexpected
1. Prologue

_**Prologue**_

A/N: K guys this is a new concept i came up with. If you like it let me know and i'll continue.

At Exactly 10:56pm, Saturday 19th January, my life changed. That six pound 3 ounce baby girl changed everything. Did I blame her for what happened? No. But God knows I wished I could. She looked so much like the one person I wanted back; I had to cherish her.

The fact was, I should've been there. My phone had been ringing off the hook all day. She told me she wasn't feeling well. Why the hell would I go to work knowing that my pregnant wife was at home feeling ill? I didn't even make it to the hospital in time to see the birth. And now Brooke was gone, leaving me with Sophie Jade McCarty in the process.

Words couldn't describe I defeated I felt when I finally got to the hospital only to see my entire family standing there with solemn looks on their faces. I fucking hated myself for letting them know before me. I wanted to wallow in self pity, maybe even drown all of my sorrows in a bottle of whiskey; but as I looked down at the green eyed, curly haired blonde in my arms, I knew I couldn't.


	2. Chapter 1

9 months later.

Emmett's Point of View

When it rains it fuckin' pores. There just wasn't enough time in the day for me to live. I woke up late this morning, got myself and Sophie ready late, missed the deadline to submit my report for work, got yelled at for missing deadline for said report and now I was making my way through the mall with a screaming baby in my arms. Needless to say, that caused a ton of heads to turn in my direction; _they probably thought I kidnapped the kid!_ For the past three days Sophie had a cold, that's what caused me to come to the mall so that I could get her a vaporizer that I could put some minty fragrance into to help with her congestion.

Her doctor recommended that I come to "Baja Babies" in the mall claiming that they'd have everything I'd need.

"What the heck is this Lauren?" I heard a female voice shouting as I turned into the baby store. Of course my screaming baby trumped everything and all of the attention turned to me.

"Shhh." I tried to sooth Sophie as I rocked her body back and forth. It was useless. She started screaming louder. _Oh dear God._

"Go see what he wants, Lauren." A blonde woman commanded. I could only see her from behind _and what a behind it was_. A ditzy looking, young woman, Lauren, nervously walked over to me.

"H-How can-n I help you, sir?" she stammered. Her eyes darted between me and my crying baby.

"I need a vaporizer that's," I pulled out my checklist, "quiet, small and that can use scented oils."

Lauren just stood there watching me with a blank expression on her face. _Uh hello, earth to Lauren_.

"Oh for god's sake!" the other lady sighed as she strutted over to us. Wow. She was _so_ beautiful, her eyes were that beautiful shade of green that just drove me wild, and then there was her curvy figure…

"You're fired." She stated as she pointed to Lauren, then she turned to me. "You said you're looking for a vaporizer, right?" she questioned as she looked at Sophie and an expression of admiration took over her perfect features. I didn't trust my voice at this particular time so I just nodded. Without looking back at the employee she just fired, she lead me to one of the shelves at the back of the store, Sophie of course was still bawling her eyes out.

"Please, Sophie Bear, you have to stop crying daddy, knows that you're not feeling well." I said once again trying to soothe her.

"Can I try?" the blonde bombshell asked as she turned to face us. _As if that would work,_ thought as I carefully placed my daughter in her arms. She then repeated the same routine I had just done only this time it worked. _Oh thanks Soph, I see where your loyalties are._ "Alright, now that this pretty baby of yours is happier let's get you what you need." She smiled moved over to the section of the store that held the various types and brands of vaporizers, sashaying as she went. She abruptly stopped walking and pulled one of the boxes down. "I think this one has all of the specs you need, she said as she handed the box to me. I pretended to read it then smiled to show her that I approved. _She could be selling me a STD and I'd buy it, for all I cared._ The both of us eventually made our way to the cash register at the front of the store. I watched as she took her time to write up my warranty info in her perfect cursive handwriting. _God everything about this woman was perfect._

"Does your wife know what a hard job she gave you by making you come to the mall alone with a sick baby?" She playfully questioned.

"Well no actually, you see I'm a single parent. Sophie's mother- my wife- died in childbirth." I replied, my happy mood suddenly dampening.

"Oh, I'm sorry." She apologized, her green eyes sympathetic.

"Oh don't worry about it; you have to move on right? Especially when there's a little person depending on you, she helps me get through it every day." I smiled, as I smoothed over Sophie's curly hair. It _was _true if it wasn't for Sophie I don't know what would have become of me.

"It's always nice to see fathers alone with their kids and sadly, it today's society it's a rare sight." She smiled as she handed my daughter back to me. We both stayed quiet while she finished up the bill.

"Can I ask you something, Mr-" she paused.

"McCarty, Emmett McCarthy, but just Emmett for you, and yes can ask me something." I blurted smiling. _God I was probably making such an ass out of myself._

"Okay Emmett," she continued smiling. "I don't usually do this, but frankly I like you and Sophie, so I was wondering, if you're not busy Saturday afternoon, whether or not you'd like to come to the puppet show that's coming into town this weekend. I'm talking my nephew." _Score one for the human race! Of course I was going to go._

"Uh sure," I replied trying to make it seem like if it was no big deal. I was sure from the way she was chuckling that I failed miserably, though. "But I don't know your name, or where it is."

"Oh, I'm Rosalie," she smiled as she tucked her long hair behind her ear. "And don't worry all the information you need is written on your bill."

"Well then thanks for inviting us," I said reluctantly as I grabbed the humidifier. "I guess we'll be leaving now. Tell the pretty lady 'bye bye' Soph." Rosalie smiled as my baby girl waved to her. _God she was getting big so fast._

As we made our way out of the store I fought against my will to look back at Rosalie.

"I have to take you out shopping, when you're crying more often Sophie Bear," I said as we walked out into the car park.

As we drove home I couldn't help but think for the first time since, Brooke's death that Sophie and I were going to be okay. Hopefully Rosalie was going to help us along the way.

**A/N: Here's the second chapter. I hope you like it, if you do leave me some love.**

**And if you haven't already, check out my beta cydney94's story maneater it's great.**


	3. Chapter 2

**A'N: Emmett= Emnett in Jackson language**

Chapter Two

_Emmett's Point of View_

It was now Thursday and I still had not spoken to Rosalie. Despite the fact that I was at first really excited that she'd asked me to go to the puppet show with her, I was now a bit hesitant to go. Thousands of questions flooded my mind; what did Rosalie expect to get out of this? Friendship? Was it a date?

The more I thought about it the more confused I became. I wanted to be romantically involved with Rosalie, but all I could think about was Brooke; I didn't want to betray her. She meant the world to me and I'd always love her but, then again Sophie needed a mother. Time was flying so fast; she'd be a teenager before I knew it and she'd need advice that only a woman could give her.

Maybe I was thinking about this whole thing too much. I sighed as I took another sip of my now cold mochacchino. I was sitting in my local Starbucks a little over two hours now trying to work out some stats for work. I loved being a statistician but sometimes it stressed the hell out of me.

I realized soon after coming here that it would be impossible to get my mind off of Rosalie Hale. I sighed as I pulled out my Blackberry and scrolled through my contacts list and selected her name. It was now or never. I smoothed my tie trying to calm my nerves.

"Hello?" she answered, sounding tense and upset.

"Uh hi Rosalie, its Emmett McCarty, is this a bad time?"

"Oh, hi Emmett! I almost thought you weren't going to call. You're not cancelling are you?" she asked, her voice suddenly happy much unlike how it initially was. This made me smile.

"No, I'm not cancelling; I just wanted to clarify the time that we're meeting."

"Oh right, well I'll tell you my plan, I'm supposed to pick up my nephew at 10:00am after that I'm probably going to take him to the park for a picnic, that way he can get lunch and play time, then we're heading for the show which starts at 2:00pm. You wanna come to the park with us?"

_Definitely._"Umm, sure why not? I 'I'll bring some sandwiches." I offered

"Absolutely not! You're not going to take my weekly babysitting job away from me. Besides, I'm sure your life is as hectic as it can get." She added I could almost see the smile playing at her lips.

"Okay, well then thanks a lot, what time should I get there though?"

"Eleven should be fine, oh and obviously we're meeting at Lacy Park, it's the most central."

"Sure."

"Okay then, I guess I'll see you on Saturday, Auf Wiedersehen!"

And the line went dead. I couldn't understand why I was so against calling Rosalie a few moments ago. She set me at ease, made me smile, God she was really something. Getting off of my chair and picking up my laptop, I walked out to my car. It was time to pick up Sophie; the highlight of my day.

Thursday.

Friday.

That was literally how quickly those two days had flown by. I was now sitting in Sophie's room packing extra items of clothing into her bag. _That was something I'd definitely learned about the hard way_. I smiled to myself, now that I thought about it; I realized that everything I learned about parenting was_ the hard way_.

I walked over to my daughter who was now sitting on the floor playing with an old pampers box. I could never understand why I bought her toys; she always played with the weirdest things.

"Okay kiddo it's time to go." I said as I lifted her above my head rocking her. She squealed in delight. As we made our way to the car I picked up the house keys and various other necessities along the way. "Blow mommy a kiss bye- bye kiddo." I told her as I locked the door behind us knowing that she'd blow Brooke's picture a kiss.

I arrived at the park ten minutes early. Deciding that it would be wise to locate a good space for the picnic I carried my baby over to a quiet area of the park that was shaded by a thick blanket of foliage. _Perfect_.

Rosalie showed up a couple of minutes later and boy did she know how to make an entrance. It was like if the world moved in slow motion for her. She got out of her flashy red BMW one wedge heeled foot at a time, shaking out her long, golden hair. She adjusted her jacket then moved around to her backseat where she began unbuckling a young child which I assumed was her nephew. I took that as my cue to go greet her, so with Sophie in tow I walked over.

"Hey you," she greeted me as she noticed me in her peripheral vision.

"Hey yourself." I replied as I saw her struggling to remove the picnic basket from the car trunk, her nephew attached to her knee. "You need some help there?" she didn't reply, she just stepped aside so that I could access the trunk. Giving her Sophie to hold I maneuvered the basket out of the trunk. Geez, what the hell did she put in here? "Well it's no wonder you couldn't get it out what do you have in here, bricks?" I playfully teased.

"Oh whatever, I'm sure that you'd be grateful later when you actually see what's inside." She smiled winking at me. "This is Jackson," she said gesturing to the little guy hiding behind her leg.

Kneeling in front of him so that I was at his level I introduced myself, "Hi Jackson, I'm Emmett."

"Him Emnett Auntie Rosie?" he looked up at his aunt for assurance.

"Yes he's _Emnett_." She assured him smiling, as he patted his pin straight black hair. I chuckled at how they pronounced my name.

Soon after that Rosalie, I and the kids were all headed over to the spot that I saved earlier. After eating the various goodies that Rose prepared, I got the magnificent idea to play hide and seek: Hales vs McCartys.

We'd probably been playing for an hour before Jackson begged his aunt to play one on one with him. He wanted her to find him not me. They both ran while I settled onto the blanket with Sophie on my lap awaiting their return.

Ten minutes later and they still hadn't returned. I was beginning to get worried. Jackson wasn't the best hider, so Rosalie should have been able to find him by now. As if on cue a very anxious looking Rosalie came back. Alone.

"What's wrong? Where's Jackson?" I asked standing.

"I don't know I can't find him I looked everywhere." _Shit_.

"Alright come on I'll help you look."

We both took off searching for Jackson. We looked in any and every place we thought he could possibly be. No luck.

By this time the both of us were extremely worried and Sophie was beginning to fuss.

"We're going to have to call the police, Rose they'd know how to handle this." I told her taking my cell phone out of my pocket; I dialed the number for the police station, telling them what happened. "They're on the way." I told her once I was done.

"I'm calling his parents." She told me as she walked away with her cell phone.

The police showed up while she was still on the phone, so, I walked over giving them all of the details. By the time Rosalie got back, they were already beginning their search. They didn't want to waste any time, he was only two years old after all.

"My brother is on his way," she said her eyes scanning the area frantically. I hated seeing her like this.

"Come here." I told her as I shifted Sophie to my right arm and held my left on open for Rose. I couldn't help but notice how perfect she felt next me as I pulled her close. "It's going to be fine," I told her placing a chaste kiss on top of her head.

"I hope so." She mumbled.

I hoped so too.

**A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as the first chapter. I really really really appreciate all of the reviews, alert and favourite adds**

**If you liked this chapter please leave me some love,**

**Erin.**


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

_Emmett's Point of View_

Jasper Hale walked into the park cool, calm and collected- the polar opposite of his now frantic sister. While she did nothing but shoot anxious looks everywhere, he simply asked all of the important questions like_, how long had Jackson gone missing. Where was he last?_ Thankfully he was not angry; I'd observed that Rosalie did not do well under pressure and she definitely would not be able to handle it if her brother blamed her.

I'd bet anything that she'd never play hide and seek with Jackson again.

"You should get her home." Rosalie suggested as she gestured to Sophie who was now asleep in my arms; her head of soft curls resting on my chest.

"I would like to but right now I think it's more important that I stay here until we find Jackson." I replied to her, my face solemn. It was, after all, my idea to play hide and seek the least that I could do was help find him. I let my eyes scan the area yet again, to no avail. Sighing, I readjusted Sophie in my arms as I rubbed circles on her back absentmindedly.

"You know, I can't imagine how he managed to disappear." I heard a male voice say as a figure appeared beside me. _Jasper. _I looked at him confused.

"What I mean to say is," he continued, "that Jackson's two, so that definitely rules out the possibility of him hiding that well for this long. He's really shy so he's not going to run off too far away from people that he knows and besides, this park is way too busy for someone to snatch him without catching the attention of a bystander." I could see just the slightest waver in his cool calm exterior, he was worried.

"Don't worry too much buddy; I'm positive that we'll get him back." I reassured him.

"I hope so, my wife's out of the country and I promised myself that I wouldn't call her to tell her that Jackson's missing until he's been gone for at least five hours- God forbid. But seriously, she'd be too worried to even think straight and she's trying to make a very important business deal right now." He continued sighing.

"Well I think that-," I began but was distracted when I saw Rosalie on the phone some distance away from where Jasper and I were standing. She was speaking to someone on the phone and kept apologizing and running her fingers through her hair in defeat. The only word that I could catch from her side of the conversation was 'babe.'

Jasper was now looking at Rosalie as well. He now had an angry scowl on his face and grumbled, "As if she wasn't upset enough already, jackass number one has to call her."

"What's wrong?" I asked him.

"What's wrong is that she's talking to that asshole, Royce."

"Who's Royce?" I asked, though I was almost positive that I didn't want to know the answer to that question.

"He's her idiot boyfriend, I have no idea what she sees in him; he makes her cry more than he makes her happy."

I literally felt my heart sink in my chest, _she had a boyfriend? _Why would she ask me out if she had a boyfriend? I mean, I know that this wasn't really intended to be a date but some men are jealous creatures. I couldn't help it I was mad, not only had I over analyzed a situation and found something where there was nothing but the object of my affection was dating an asshole and probably wasn't even interested in me. I needed to get out of the park soon. I quickly walked back to where we were sitting earlier and picked up my things, after which I planned on walking over to Jasper, wishing him good luck and hopefully slipping out of the park without Rosalie noticing.

I knew that I was being immature, childish and jealous for no good reason, but hey, chivalry is dead, right?

However as is normal with everything in life the element of surprise ruined my plan; an officer found Jackson. Everyone- his father, Rosalie, me and the one or two curious bystanders came forward to see the toddler. Jasper, who could not control his excitement quickly, took his son from the officer's arms and showered him with kisses. Jackson was fast asleep.

I stuck around long enough to hear the officer telling them where he found the boy. Apparently Jackson took the saying 'hiding in plain sight' and put it into practice; he was hiding under his aunt's car. I decided that now, when everyone was distracted would be the perfect time to slip away unnoticed so I gently pushed through the crowd, trying not to wake Sophie.

I'd almost reached my car when I felt someone's hand on my shoulder and stopped walking. Although I already knew who it was before I slowly turned around.

"We found him." She told me excitedly, her green eyes shining like emeralds in the evening sky.

"I know." I replied stiffly.

"You were just going to leave without saying goodbye?" she inquired still smiling totally unconcerned by my sour mood.

"I didn't want to intrude on your family's happy moment." I lied.

"You wouldn't have been intruding you were just as involved in this situation as Jasper and I." she smiled gently.

You see that's the thing with extremely beautiful women, they think that if they flash you a toothpaste ad smile then everything's honky dory. And while that was generally true, I was too pissed off to give in.

"Well I have to get Sophie home." I grumbled gruffly as I began turning around to walk away.

"Wait." She whispered. "I just wanted to ask you if you wanted to plan another play date."

"You have a boyfriend." I stated as I looked her in the eye. Her expression changed somewhat; it was no longer gentle but not yet angry.

"I never said I didn't.' she said as she folded her arms.

"I think you're giving me mixed signals. I thought that since you invited me with you that-,"

"That what? I invited you to a puppet show so that Sophie and Jackson could have some fun. It's not like I invited you back to my apartment to have sex!" she hissed.

So of course I felt like an ass and because of that I did the only thing that a guy can do when he feels like and ass; I acted macho.

"Whatever, I'm out." I told her as I walked away. She didn't bother to follow me.

**XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO**

Though I was happy to see her, picking up Sophie was not the highlight of my day today. It meant "Baja Babies" a place that I'd been avoiding like the plague for the past five days. After all five days is a long time to make me realize that I'd been a complete fool the last time I saw Rosalie.

Five days was also enough time for me to realize the all of the peppermint oil for Sophie's vaporizer was all finished. I'd procrastinated as much as was humanly possible and now I had to go to the store to get some. It was out of stock on all of the websites I'd checked and Sophie needed it to sleep well through the night since her cold had left her with a cough and the only thing that helped was the vaporizer and the oil. The store now became my dreaded last resort.

As I navigated my way through the mall I hoped that when I finally made it to Rosalie's store that she would not be there. I of course had no such luck as the store came into view I saw Rosalie holding the hand of some guy who I could only assume was Royce, just before their lips met.

_Why me?_

I inhaled deeply as I made my way into the store; the two lovebirds hadn't even realized that I'd entered. I cleared my throat so that my presence would be known and asked bitterly, "Isn't there some policy that PDA should be kept at bay in a kid's store?" I asked savagely. "I mean not all of us know all of the uses of the tongue and lips and I'd like to keep it that way." I continued gesturing to Sophie, who was much too busy playing with my tie to care.

"I'm so sorry." Rosalie said, pulling away from Royce and adjusting a few stray strands of her hair. Turning on her professionalism she asked, "What can I do for you?"

Her asshole boyfriend was a whole other story, he didn't take the time to apologize or be embarrassed as any normal human would instead he smirked at me before smacking Rosalie's ass and walking out of the store. He only looked back to remind her to wear something that was easy to take off when she came over to his place later that night.

What a douche.

I watched as Rosalie's face became slightly red with anger and as she released a long and frustrated sigh.

_That's what you get for dating an asshole_, I thought savagely.

"It's nice to see the two of you again." She said as she turned her attention to us, painting on a smile as her eyes took in me and my baby girl. "Can I hold her?" she asked as her arms reached out to take Sophie.

"Sure." I replied placing my daughter in her arms. Sophie's face immediately lit up as she grabbed on to a few of Rosalie's golden tendrils.

"Hi pretty baby." she cooed.

"I need some peppermint oil replacements for the vaporizer." I blurted out, interrupting her moment with Sophie. Apparently asshole Emmett was back.

"Oh," she seemed startled at my frankness, "I'm sorry but I don't have any, it's out of stock."

"You too?" I exclaimed.

"Well, there's a manufacturing problem at the moment, so there's a shortage."

I ran my fingers through my hair, frustrated letting out a groan.

"Sophie's not going to sleep well if she doesn't have the peppermint oil; it's the only thing I've found that gets rid of her sniffles." I explained.

"Well then, I guess you're in for a long night." She smiled trying to lighten the mood.

"I can't afford for it to be a long night, I have to finish a report for work."

"You don't have any relatives that can help you?"

I shook my head no, "They live on the other side of the country, unless you count my cousin Edward, but let's just say that he's not a good option." I said remembering the last time I'd left Sophie in his care, only to return to find her alone in his living room unsupervised while he was in his bedroom getting busy with some chick.

"I'd offer to help but I have plans that I can't get away from." She looked genuinely regretful but my pride wouldn't let me overlook things so easily.

"Royce." I spat, my jaw clenching.

"He's really not as bad as he seems, you know." She tried to reason.

"Hey it doesn't matter, that's your business not mine." I grumbled, as I stretched my arms out to take Sophie from her. "We should go." I told her as Sophie fussed and fought with me to stay by Rosalie.

"Come on baby, daddy has a lot of work to do." I told her as I rocked her in my arms; it seemed to calm her down.

"Well, here's what I'll do," Rosalie said as she went behind the counter doing something on the computer. "Give me your address and I'll have them send some of the peppermint oil over to your house once it becomes available."

Smiling at her offer, I gave her all of the necessary information before something struck me; she was really making an effort here while I was just being a difficult fool. She didn't have to be this nice after the way I'd spoken to her the last time we saw each other. I felt like the only way I'd be deserving of her nice gestures was if I put my pride away and apologize to her, even though it seemed as if she'd already forgiven me.

"Hey Rosalie," I called. She peeked at me meekly from around the computer monitor, a puzzled expression on her face. "I'm sorry for the way I'd acted last Saturday. You didn't deserve it and I was just being a complete a-hole." I told her editing my language for my daughter's sake.

"You don't need to apologize, Emmett. I think I was as equally at fault as you were. I think I give off the wrong ideas, 'cause you're not the first person to tell me that I send mixed messages." She smiled kindly. "Maybe it's my body language." She mused as she bit her bottom lip looking too sexy to be true, _her body language was definitely her problem._

"Well thanks a lot for everything and maybe we can try to have a play date once again, without hide and seek of course." I joked.

"I'll definitely take you up on that- especially the part about the hide and seek." She added chuckling.

And with that we said our goodbyes as I made my way back to my car with an extra chip in my step, journeying home with only thoughts of one extremely gorgeous Rosalie Hale floating around in my brain.

**XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO**

**A/N: Hey guys sorry for the ridiculously long wait, right now im doing my CSEC exams, which in the Caribbean is the single most important exams, without proper grades in this exam you can't get into a university, get a job etc. So i need to do really well! It's supposed to be over on June 8th, im doing nine advanced classes, so wish me luck. I'll Update more quickly once exams are over. PLEASE review! it'll make my day also, put any suggestions that you have i'm open to ideas,  
**

**Erin.**


	5. Chapter4

Chapter Four

"Wow McCarty, you look like shit man!"

I looked up trying my best to put a smile on my face though I was sure it looked like a grimace.

"Thanks a lot Alec that means a lot!" I tried to joke before bursting into a coughing fit.

"Take it easy man," he said patting my back before pushing a bottle in my face. "You want some water?"

"No thanks man," I croaked, my throat sore.

"Seriously, though dude, you should head home and get some rest, I'll finish your report for you." Alec told me his features concerned. "Where the hell did you even get that cold man?"

"Sophie."

"Yeah that's right, just blame everything on my goddaughter." He joked as he moved to my desk to assist me as I packed up my belongings, before we both walked toward the elevator.

"So, are you sure you'll be able to finish that report for me?" I asked before stepping into the elevator. Alec's expression turned into mock offence.

"Have I ever let you down man?" he asked smiling knowingly; he knew he hadn't. He was there with me from the time my parents divorced when I was nine, he helped me recover from my knee injury that ended my promising football career in college and most importantly, he helped me adjust to Brooke's death for Sophie's sake.

"Alright, well thanks Alec, I'm out." I replied as I stepped into the elevator.

By the time I'd arrived home, I was miserable. My head literally felt like if it was going to explode and the only thing I could think of doing was rushing to the couch to pull the blanket I had thrown on it over my shivering body. I couldn't even imagine how I was going to pick up Sophie – let alone take care of her if I was in such a state.

Maybe I could call my cousin Edward. I cringed at the idea that was definitely a bad idea. Edward was a playboy… enough said. I should've definitely chosen at least one female godparent for Sophie or I should've moved closer to my parents 'cause my guys sucked ass when it came to babysitting her.

The loud shrill of my ring tone pierced through the silence causing me to startle. Trying my best not to let too much of my arm out from under the safety of the cover, I brought my blackberry to my ear, forgetting to check to see who it was.

"Hello." I groaned into the phone before succumbing to a fit of coughs.

"You sound awful." She stated and I could picture the gentle smile on her perfectly angelic face as she spoke to me.

"What do you want," I grumbled amazed at my abrasiveness.

"I'm sorry," she sighed before continuing. "I know it's still pretty early in the day but I wanted to know if you were home. I finally got the oils you wanted for Sophie and I wanted to come drop them off as soon as I possibly could.

"Oh uh… sure you can drop them now." I mumbled. If I'd gotten the damn oils earlier, I wouldn't be in this mess in the first place.

"Ok, well you should see me in the next half hour, sit tight!" she said before hanging up the phone, before I could even reply. My eyes quickly scanned the living room I was in; it looked like a pigsty and that was putting it lightly. I just wasn't able to clean up after Sophie and myself once I'd began feeling ill yesterday morning. Groaning as loudly as my sore throat would allow, I weakly rose to my feet; I had to at least try to neaten things up a bit before Rosalie came.

_Oh fuck no!_ I thought as I shrugged out of my blanket, only to be hit by what felt like a freezing gush of wind. That's it! Rosalie would just have to see my house in a mess; I quickly put the blanket back around me. I hated the idea though, since I'd become a single father, I was determined to remove all of the stereotypes that Hollywood placed on us dads. Keeping my house clean was just one of the rituals that I performed, in my attempt to do so.

By the time I heard the doorbell ringing, I had fallen into a light sleep, causing me to wake up dazed. I was never really good at performing tasks when I'd just woken up. Take that and the fact that I wasn't feeling my best and you could imagine how long it took me to realize that I should actually answer the door. Pulling the blanket around me more tightly, I got up and sluggishly made my way to the front door, which I opened making sure that I was shielded behind it at all times to avoid catching a draft.

_Pfft! A draft; you'd swear I lived in Antarctica, not California._

"Emmett?" I heard her crazy sexy voice ask, making me peep from behind the door.

"You can come in." I told her in that yucky nasally voice that everyone got when they had the cold.

"You're such a big baby, you know that?" she chided as she walked in holding what looked like a bag of groceries in her arms.

_Was I missing something here? _

"I can detect a cold from miles away and I told myself that it you looked as awful as you sounded – which you do by the way – that you could use some help. I thought I'd make you some chicken soup, so I stopped in the grocery on the way here." She explained.

"Oh." Was my only reply, I was so grateful that she'd decided to do this for me.

"So you want to show me where your kitchen is?"

"Sure," I replied as I wobbled leading us out of the foyer and down the little hallway that branched of into my eat-in kitchen.

"I'm surprised, McCarty." She said as her eyes took in the large mahogany cupboards, granite and marble countertops and the large chandelier hanging form the ceiling.

What could I say? I had a penchant for construction and often loved to remodel various parts of my home. I just smiled at her as her eyes met mine, she was so beautiful.

"Ok, were you laying down before I came here?" she asked smiling

I nodded and gestured to the room on the opposite side of the hallway to let her know that I'd be in there. I wanted to avoid talking as much as possible since my throat hurt like hell.

"Alright will go back there and relax, I'll come over as soon as I'm done here." She told me.

"Okay," I whispered before walking back over to my living room and laying myself on the couch where I drifted off to sleep.

"I woke up to find myself in a room that looked completely different from the one I fell asleep in.

_She cleaned?_

I wondered how long I'd been out for.

Still making sure that the blanket was secure around me I slowly sat up, still amazed at all that Rosalie had done.

"Oh good you woke up, I was hoping that I wouldn't have to wake you." She said as she walked into the room carrying a tray of food in her arms.

She sat down next to me as she placed the tray on the coffee table in front of us.

"Thanks for everything," I said, to her. My throat burned as I spoke, but she had to know how I felt.

"It's really no problem," she said, "I live alone, there's never really much to do there." She reached over to the coffee table and grabbed the tray, which she placed on my lap.

"First things first," she said as she picked up the digital thermometer from the tray. "Let's get that temperature of yours, I need to know what I'm working with here. Open up."

I complied with her command and then shut my mouth once the thermometer was safely inside if it. We both sat there in a comfortable silence while we waited for the thermometer to get its reading, until its soft beeping alerted us that it should be checked.

She took the thermometer out of my mouth and read it, "One hundred and three degrees, you're as sick as a dog," she said smiling as she put the thermometer back into the tray. "Don't worry about anything, I'll have you up and running in no time. You want to try any of the soup?" she asked as I nodded meekly.

"Well, I put it in a cup because I knew that you wouldn't want to take your hand out from under the blanket to use a spoon." She said as she handed me my 'World's number 1 Dad' mug.

_Hmmm she was thoughtful too._

"Thanks." I said as I looked into her eyes, while I couldn't talk much at the moment, I really wanted her to know how much I appreciated what she was doing.

"What time do you usually collect Sophie?" she asked.

"Usually 5:30, but I can go as late as 8:00." I told her in between sips of the soup I could faintly taste some of the wonderful flavors in it. At least the cold didn't completely mess with my sense of taste.

"I'll go get her at her usual time then." I looked up at the clock, that was in an hour.

"Rosalie, you don't have to do that – " I began to protest.

"I want to Emmett. Besides, how are you going to drive when you can't take your entire arm from under the blanket long enough to eat your soup?"

"They won't let her leave with you." I argued.

"Oh please, you and I both know that all you have to do is call them before I get there," she counter argued.

"Fine." I grumbled.

"Good," she said as she took the now empty mug out of my hand, "I got you some Tylenol, you want to try it?"

I nodded in response, I was in no position to say no to medicine.

Once I'd swallowed the two pills she gave me she asked, "Where's her daycare?"

"Oh it's 'Tumble Tots,' you know the huge kids center near to the bed and breakfast on St. Michael Avenue?"

"Yeah, I know there."

"Just carry my driver's license, they'll know I sent you." I told her remembering one of the daycare's policies. I pointed to my wallet laying on the coffee table which Rosalie then opened retrieving my license. Afterward, she got up from where she was sitting and dropped the tray back into the kitchen before telling me that she was going to leave to get Sophie now and that she was taking my car, since she didn't want to go through the trouble of moving Sophie's car seat into her car.

Once she'd left, I turned on the TV and began randomly flipping through channels, not really focusing on anything, just trying to pass the time, when my phone rang again. I looked at the screen this time before answering, it was Alec.

"Hey man," I croaked into the phone.

"God dude, that cold really hit you hard man," he said before continuing, "just handed in your report to Caius, he said that you can take as many days as you need to recover."

"Really?" I asked shocked, my boss was basically a slave driver and defiantly one of the biggest assholes around.

"Yeah, he said that you're one of his best workers and that he thinks you deserve a break."

"Cool."

"So, uh, I really called to find out if you wanted me to get Sophie for you."

"No, it's cool man, I got it covered." I replied smiling as I was thought of his reaction when I told him about Rosalie and my afternoon together.

"Please tell me you're not picking her up yourself man, are you suicidal? That can't be a good idea! It's ok if you don't do it for one day, she isn't gonna hate you for it, I can get her for you."

"Dude, I told you I got it covered." I said before bursting into a coughing fit. "Rosalie's going to pick her up for me."

"Rosalie," he repeated stupidly, causing me to smirk. "Rosalie, as in the totally hot woman who invited Sophie to the play date?"

"Yup, that'd be the one." I said vaguely.

"Well man, are you planning on telling me how the fuck that happened?" he asked excitedly.

"Well, she promised to drop something off for Sophie and when she called she realized how sick I was so she came over, she made soup for me dude!" I said as loudly as my sore throat would let me. I was sure that this conversation was bad for my health.

"She cooked for you, shit!"

"Yeah and she's taking care of me too." I boasted.

"I wonder if her boyfriend knows what she's up to?"

"Dude, what the hell would you bring that up for?" I asked angrily; my headache suddenly seeming worse.

"Oh shit, sorry man, but seriously, you should ask her what's up, you don't want any jealous boyfriend drama."

He was right, I didn't. "Well Alec, I'm tired and my throat hurts, I'll talk to you soon."

"Alright Em, feel better – oh and see if you can cup a feel when she's taking your temperature of something lover boy!" Alec joked before hanging up. I swear he hadn't changed a bit since high school.

I could feel the drowsy effects of the Tylenol begin to kick in as I sat back in the couch and pulled the blanket even tighter around me.

I wasn't sure how much time I'd dozed off for before I heard the car pulling into the garage and someone screaming – wait no – that was Sophie! She was bawling her eyes out. I jumped out of the couch, my sore body screaming in protest and shuffled awkwardly to the door. I flung it open not even caring how cold I felt; Sophie's needs were more important that mine any day.

Rosalie was now walking toward the front door with my screaming baby in her arms, she looked defeated.

"I tried everything, I don't think she likes me!" Rosalie explained. I sighed in relief, thankful that Sophie wasn't hurt.

"Giver her to me." I croaked in my totally un-sexy nasally voice.

"Dada!" Sophie shrieked as I took her into my arms – holy hell she just said my name!

"You heard that Rosalie?" I asked excitedly, "She just said my name, she just said her first word!" I gushed proudly watching my now calm baby.

"That's amazing!" Rosalie said smiling, she seemed very happy now that Sophie had calmed down "Oh by the way Emmett, I going to listen to you next time and let you go for her – the kid went ballistic!" she exclaimed as she plopped herself down on the couch.

I chuckled lightly as I sat down next her before breaking into another coughing fit, causing Sophie to startle in my arms and immediately reach over to Rosalie, who took her.

"Ok, so now we're friends?" Rosalie mumbled to my daughter as she tickled her, making her laugh loudly.

"She never cries with strangers as long as I'm in the room." I told her.

"Oh so you knew she was going to throw as hissy fit?"

"Hey I wanted to go for her." I smiled, Rosalie chuckled lightly, _God I could totally get used to hearing her laughter everyday_.

"You're lucky you're sick, or I'd would have totally kicked your butt." She grumbled playfully.

"You wouldn't hurt a fly." I smiled at her showing off my dimples.

"Damn right, but guess what?" she whispered in my ear, causing me to let out an uneasy breath at our closeness.

"What?"

"You're not a fly." She smirked as she got up from where she was sitting and began making her way to the kitchen with Sophie it tow, winking at me before saying, "I'm going to feed her."

I just sat there stupidly watching the sway of her hips as she walked away.

**Ok guys, that's chapter 4! Leave me some love if you do, and i promise that i'll try to get my updates out more quickly, im on vacation now!**


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

"You're tired." Rosalie told Sophie as she saw her yawning on the floor where she was seated. "Would she fall asleep if I just put her in her crib?"

"Hell no! That's too simple, she wouldn't be my daughter if she made things so easy." I explained. "She has to be rocked to sleep on that rocker over there." I pointed to the rocking chair that was situated near the bay window of the room.

"I bet she's not as fussy as you make her out to be." Rose looked down at Sophie and played with her curly hair. I smiled as I watched them together; they were both forming a friendship and that made me happy.

"You think I'm joking? Well fine then, put her in the crib… we'll just have a repeat of this afternoon, that's all." Rose gave me a look that said _yeah right_. "You know what I'll save you the stress, let me do it."

I stood up from my reclined position on the couch and shuffled across to where they were sitting. The blanket was still wrapped securely around my body, and I stood there for a while calculating how I was going to lift Sophie… not only did I have the chills but my body was extremely weak.

Rose seemed to understand this, "Go sit, I'll bring her to you. You know we're totally testing this whole you can't get the same cold twice thing, right?" She plopped my daughter into my lap once I was sitting leaving her, five foot ten inch frame towering above us.

"Hey, that's a fact, right? 'Cause I really can't deal with Sophie being ill again right now, I'm falling behind in my work." It wasn't that I minded taking care of my baby girl but I had to keep food on the table, a roof over our heads and clothes on our backs.

"Don't worry, I'm sure it's a fact Emmett, I was only joking." Rosalie smiled as she patted my head of tangled curls. I felt a sudden jolt run through my body when she touched me causing her to precipitously pull away from me.

She started apologizing but I hushed her, "What are you sorry for? We're friends right? Can't friends touch each other." I looked up into her eyes smiling innocently.

"Yes but…"

"No buts, it was a friendly gesture." I told her chuckling slightly, which of course caused me to cough uncontrollably. Sophie was startled and began crying in my lap stretching her arms up for Rosalie to take her. She really was terrified of my cough. Hell, even I was terrified of it! It literally sounded as though my insides might come up through my mouth. Rosalie wasted no time in taking Sophie and immediately went to work soothing her.

"Alright you runny nosed bear, you may have to let me put her to sleep."

Letting out an exaggerated sigh, I got out of the rocker and wobbled back over to my couch, watching Rose, who was still standing.

"Your daddy makes it sound as though you're a bad baby, but you just want some TLC, don't you?" Sophie's head was resting contently on Rosalie's chest, while Rose rubbed her back soothingly. "Let's go get that bottle I made for you earlier and get your daddy's medicine for him." She smiled at me before exiting the living room.

I adjusted myself on the couch so that I was comfortable. I couldn't help feeling in awe of Rosalie Hale. She was amazingly sexy, witty, she had a good sense of humour and to add the cherry to the cake she was good with kids, my Sophie bear loved her.

She made it hard for me not to like her, what with her always being nice to me, and her eagerness to assist with Sophie.

She reentered the room with her eyes shining, "A penny for you thoughts."

"Nothing significant." I mumbled.

"Here's you're medication." She adjusted Sophie on her hip and handed me two pills. I was sure that they were the same type as the ones I'd taken earlier, this meant that they were only good for one thing… putting me to sleep.

"I can't take them now, I need to take Sophie so that you could head home." I didn't want her to put her life on hold for me, it was only seven o' clock, the night was still young and as much as I hated thinking it, she could probably be spending this time with _Royce_.

"It's okay Emmett I don't mind helping out. It's not like if you're in any state to take care of her." She reasoned.

"Yeah but, what time are you going to head home… its not safe for you to be out alone too late."

She smiled, "Dude, I gave up the idea of going home a long time ago. I can't just leave the two of you here when you're in this condition. I swear my conscience will eat away at my soul if I do."

"So… uh… you're going to spend the night here?" I asked, completely flustered at the idea of her spending the night in my house. Images of her in revealing lingerie, and with sex hair were suddenly floating around in my head.

It was seriously too long since I'd had sex; the littlest things would turn me into a horny mess.

"Well yeah – I mean I'll leave if you want me to, but I can stay and help out. I'll sleep on the futon or something." She looked so vulnerable then that I was sure that I'd have told her to stay even if I actually wanted her to go.

"Rose, you can stay. Do you really expect me to just kick you out after all that you did for me today, what kind of man do you think I am? And you're not sleeping on the futon, there are bed's in this house and they won't bite." I winked at her smiling.

"Good, well since that's settled, I have one question though, are you going to sleep out here all night?"

"Yeah, walking is too hard right now." I replied as I dry swallowed the two pills she gave me. "Sophie's bedroom door is always open, so when you see her room, the guest bedroom is the one to it's left. Don't be afraid to make yourself at home."

"Ok thanks, well do you think you'll be alright down here alone? I'd like to put her in her room. I'm determined to prove to you that she doesn't need to be rocked to fall asleep." Rose told me as she stifled a yawn.

"Yeah I'll be fine, and good luck with Sophie… kudos to you if you succeed in putting her to sleep your way. Oh and the laundry room is just off the kitchen, you can grab a t-shirt of mine or something to sleep in, if you want." I could have offered her something that I had remaining from Brooke, but I wasn't sure I could deal with that on an emotional level.

"Ok, night." She mumbled quietly before walking upstairs with my baby in tow.

I tried listening to hear Sophie's screams of protest of the change in her bedtime routine but they never came… _the little traitor._ And pretty soon I fell into a restless sleep. I kept waking up periodically to drink some water because I felt dehydrated. I would definitely have to go to the doctor's if I didn't feel better in the morning.

During some one of my moments of sleep I was roughly awakened when I felt a harsh, sharp pain across my cheek.

"Wha…" I mumbled as Rosalie's slender form materialized in front of me; her eyes were wide with anxiety. "What's wrong is it Sophie?" I sat up with her help before she answered me.

"Emmett, we need to break your fever, you're ridiculously dehydrated and I think you're hallucinating."

"What are you talking about, I'm not hallucinating."

"Em, you tried to kiss me just now and you were calling me Brooke… you thought I was her. That's why I slapped you."

I didn't know what to say so I just sat back marveled at what she just told me. I was positive however, that my expression read apology.

"Hey, it's ok it's just the fever. But Em, we really need to break your fever and I don't think you're going to enjoy it."

"Why not?" I asked nervously.

"You're going to have to take a shower… a cold one."

"Pssh, that's it! I can do that." I tried to act as though taking a cold shower was not a big deal but really, I was terrified. I couldn't stand showering in cold water when I was feeling well, far less now that I had a high fever. I think Rosalie sensed this, but she didn't call out by bluff.

"Alright well drink some water first, your lips are chapped." She handed me a glass of water.

Changing out of my robe was the hardest thing ever. But once I was done I stepped into the shower enclosure with the robe still wrapped around me. Rose told me that she'd wait in the living room for me. This meant that all I had to do was _pretend_ to take a shower.

I smiled at my genius plan. I stepped out of the shower area and walked over to the face basin turning the water as hot as it could go wetting my hands and running them through my hair making it seem as if my hair was wet. I then sat around in the bathroom for a while, and once I thought that, about ten minutes had passed I walked out, feeling satisfied with my grand idea.

I spotted Rose staring out the bay window, her back was facing me and I finally got the chance to notice what she was wearing, I mean how could I not she looked so fuckin' sexy. My White Stripes t-shirt hung loosely on her body. It was short on her falling just below her butt like a mini dress showing off her long, toned legs.

I cleared my throat to make her aware of my presence. She quickly whipped her head around, sending her blonde curls flying. Her left eyebrow arched suspiciously as she walked over to me.

"You're finished already?" I could swear her voice was a lot more husky and lower and well… just sexier than it usually sounded.

"Yeah." I gulped nervously.

"Why aren't you shivering?"

"Maybe I wasn't as sick as we thought." I shrugged.

"Why are you lying to me, Emmett?"

"Because, I'm scared of cold water. I don't have the balls to do it." I admitted, looking down at the floor ashamed like a child who'd been scolded.

She sighed running her hand through her silky hair. "We must get rid of you fever Emmett, I should take you to the hospital… they'd be able to help you get better." I shook my head no at her suggestion explaining that I didn't want to disrupt Sophie's sleep.

"Well I could try to do it for you – uh – break the fever I mean." She suggested apprehensively.

"How are you going to do that?"

"Well, I could give you a sponge bath. You could lay down on your bed and I'll wipe your chest, stomach and back."

"Well, I mean… are you sure? I could just go to the doctor's first thing in the morning." I was flustered at the thought of Rosalie wiping me with a wet cloth, while she was dressed in nothing but my t-shirt it seemed like a one-way ticket to blue balls central.

"I may not be able to stay in the morning Em, I have work and you'll be in no condition to drive, so what do you say?"

"Okay?"

I was propped up against the doorway to the kitchen as I watched her prepare the water for my 'bath'. My heart was beating so rapidly in my chest that I was sure that it'd just stop beating altogether from, working too hard. Once she was done filling a basin with lukewarm water, I lead her up the stairs, one uncertain step at a time to my personal purgatory.

I quickly excused myself and entered my master bathroom so that I could slip on a pair of pajama pants. I looked at myself long and hard in the mirror; telling myself that this would not end badly… that I wouldn't end up embarrassing myself with an erection. I then reentered my bedroom to find her sitting on the edge of my bed, the basin resting on my nightstand.

"Did you forget to take off your robe?" she smirked as she strutted toward me. Her slender fingers reached out and undid the knot I'd tied and then, she slowly raised them up to my shoulders helping my out of it.

I made a sharp in take of breath as my body came into contact with the night's cool temperature; a blanket of goose bumps ghosting over my skin. My heart pounded in my chest frantically, while the ever-calm Rosalie walked over to my king-sized bed and patted the pillow signaling me to lie down.

Once I was comfortable, she took her time wetting a washcloth in the water and wringing out the excess, then bringing it down to my firm pecs.

"Sweet mother of God!" I gasped as I sat up urgently, my body convulsing more violently as I shivered. There was no way on earth that I could go through with this.

The serious expression that Rose gave me told me that she was not joking around… she meant business. She raised her slender hand up to my chest, I could feel the softness of her fingers and I smiled despite the coldness I felt at her contact. She applied a delicate force to her fingertips and eased me back down onto the soft sheets.

"We need to do this so you need to relax." She pursed her lips in determination and looked me dead in the eye. Her gaze was so intense that I was certain that I'd do whatever she told me to, just to appease her. Then, without losing our eye contact, she brought the wet cloth onto my stomach.

I flinched and hissed at the contact, but I remained restrained and well behaved during the torture that she was putting me through. I wasn't sure if it was an act of confidence or just plain old fear but I reached my right hand toward the hand that she wasn't using to sponge me off. I could feel my body still quivering and thankfully she did not release it.

Rose studied my face for a while, her expression was puzzling to me, was it apprehension, anxiety I couldn't be sure. I felt a slight breeze as she shook her head; her hair falling between us blocking her face off from me completely. She still hadn't let go of my hand.

She continued working quietly, avoiding eye contact with me and I couldn't help but feel a twinge of pain in my heart. "Are you mad at me?"

"No." she still didn't look at me though.

"Then why won't you look at me?" I sat up angling my body so that she had no choice but to look at me. She gulped nervously and opened her mouth in an attempt to speak but then she shut it quickly. I gave her hand a reassuring squeeze, trying to encourage her to speak, but my senses were inevitably polluted as I noticed how closely we were seated. I could feel her hot breath on the skin of my neck.

"Em – I…" she sighed.

I prodded her gently, "What?"

It was like if the thin barrier that kept her self-control in check came tumbling down. I was quickly pinned down on the bed with her on top of me her hands cupping my face as our lips moved in a frantic attempt at satiating the burning desire that we both had for too, _too long_.

I felt her moist tongue flicking my lips begging for entrance…

I pulled back, "I'll get you sick."

"I don't care. You're too fucking sexy." She hissed her lips moving to mine once again, and the both of us gave in to our every animalistic whim. My hands moved down her body, caressing every curve… welcoming the warmth that her body pressed on mine created for me.

Things were getting even more heated and pretty soon my angel threw her right leg over my lover body so that she was now straddling me and I grinded my hips upward into her heated center.

"Mmmmm." She moaned, before smiling wickedly and whispering in my ear, "Is this warming you up?"

I grabbed onto her hips and pulled her down to me once again kissing her roughly, I could feel little Em growing and I was positive that she could too. Her arms roamed down my chest, and her mouth followed leaving a trail of hot wet kisses down my stomach…

"Fuck!" I groaned as she rubbed me through the thin cotton pants smiling mischievously before asking me if I liked that. Earning her a frantic, " Hell yes!" in response.

"And what about this?" she sat up and slowly and teasingly lifted the t-shirt off of her body exposing her soft tanned skin, toned stomach and more importantly, her glorious breasts. I wasted no time in touching them, massaging them in the palms my hands and flicking her nipples gently. My explorations earned me a loud groan, of clear satisfaction.

I moved an attempt to roll us over but she resisted, whispering, "This is all about you Em."

"Gosh Rose, you're so fucking sexy!" I moaned loudly. She pulled on the waistband of my pants and I raised my hips slightly so that she could pull them off of me completely.

Soon she was face to face with my cock smiling appreciatively.

"I see nothing about you disappoints, McCarty."

I smirked proudly. I was an avid believer that _size does matter_.

She licked her lips before grabbing the base of my cock. I sat up wanting a full view of the show that was about to take place and wrapped my hands up in her hair so that it wouldn't get in the way.

"Damn." I groaned as she swirled her tongue around the head of my penis, licking up the pre-cum that had settled there. She looked so fucking hot as she lowered her mouth all the way down the shaft of my cock. _I swear she didn't have a gag reflex_!

I groaned repeatedly as I used my hands, which were still tangled in her hair to guide her to a pace that I loved. She sucked me a few more times before my body stiffened and I came into her mouth.

"Fuck!" I exclaimed as she climbed back up to the bed head, and into my arms, which were held opened for her. She tucked herself neatly to my side and rested her head on my chest.

I fell asleep that night, on cloud nine. I was oblivious to the headache that was tempting to become a migraine, oblivious to the new sore spots that my body had from obvious over exertion. I had the woman of my dreams wrapped in my arms our bodies pressed together skin to skin… her leg draped across my lower half.

Most of all I was oblivious to the voice in my head that asked me, _what would her boyfriend think of this?_


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N**:** Hey guys! i know i know I'm an awful updater but i will really try to upload these chapters faster to you guys. But you're killing my motivation, can you guys please review?**

** I'm not even greedy I'm only asking for ten reviews for this chapter please please please! It'll make my day and encourage me to update faster : )**

**Chapter 6**

I groaned happily as I woke up, stretching the sleep and laziness out of my limbs. My left arm automatically reached out for Rosalie only to find out that she was no longer lying next to me.

_Hmm, she must be downstairs_.

I couldn't help the shit eating grin that spread across my face. The reason for my happiness was easily summarized into two words; Rosalie Hale. Last night was amazing; from the way she took care of Sophie and me to the highly anticipated grand finale that was the blowjob.

I sat up in my bed with a content sigh, surprised to find that I was no longer experiencing chills.

_Fuck yeah! The fever's gone_!

My muscles were still tight and tender as I stood up. I was uncertain as to whether they were side effects from mine and Rose's 'happy time' last night, or if they were just still remnants of my illness. I consciously looked at the analog clock that was sitting on the wall; it was 11:35 in the morning!

I quickly put on my pajama pants and walked out of my bedroom in search of Rose and Sophie, upset that I'd overslept even after Rosalie told me that she needed to get to work. I was fortunate enough to not have to work on Saturdays, which today was, but Rosalie didn't have that luxury… she worked at the mall.

The faint sound of Bugs Bunny saying his famous, "What's up doc?" was coming from the downstairs television. The sight that my eyes were greeted to when I entered the living room made my heart swell. My two girls were sitting there; Sophie looking at Rose with an expression that was way too serious for a ten month old and Rosalie was speaking to her very softly.

I felt like a stalker just staying in my obscure corner watching them. But they were such an enchanting sight together, and I felt as though it would be a crime to disturb them. This was definitely a scene that I could wake up to every morning… the feeling of completeness that seeing this gave me was indescribable.

By now my eyes had glazed over, as I allowed my thoughts to drift. I could picture Rose helping Sophie blow out the candles on her first birthday cake; I could see her dropping Sophie off to her first day of school. I knew that if there was one constant thing thatI wanted in mine and my daughter's lives it would be Rose.

I was so lost in deep thought that I only realized that Rosalie and Sophie were aware of my presence in the room when I felt warm tiny fingers grabbing at my lower leg through the material of my pants.

"Dadda." She cooed with her soft curls bouncing wildly as she looked up at me.

I abruptly bent down to pick her up and threw her up into the air catching her when she came down. It seemed as though Rose's blowjob had miraculous healing powers. My fever was gone, my head no longer hurt… it was like if I'd woken up a whole new Emmett today. The only thing that was yet to heal was that damn sore throat.

I rested a kiss on my Sophie Bear's chubby cheek and tickled her, eliciting her happy giggles as she wiggled around in my arms.

"If you only knew how much daddy loves you, Sophie McCarty." I told her softly as I inhaled her sweet baby scent.

"I think she does." My eyes trailed to where the voice was coming from and I was instantly taken back by her exquisiteness. Even though her hair was in a messy bun and she had on no make-up she still took my breath away.

I walked over to where she was seated adjusting Sophie into one arm and, leaning over the back of the armchair I was sitting in, and I slowly brought my lips down to her soft pouty mouth.

She pecked me before pulling away and sighing heavily, "I can't stay Emmett. I need to go."

"Oh ok… But we need to talk. You know… about what happened last night." I was smiling in remembrance of the great memories.

The icy glare that Rosalie gave me made me step back from her. "We're not going to talk about anything that happened last night because it doesn't matter, ok? Just forget it ever happened."

"Well I don't want to forget it, it was amazing… you were amazing. I don't understand why you're being like this." My mind was unable to fathom at least one possible reason why Rose would hate last night.

"Yeah well I'm sorry Emmett but the feeling wasn't mutual, ok? I'm sorry that I lead you on." She looked down at the floor while she spoke. Even thought her voice still sounded as strong and as lethal as it had before, her body language was the total opposite. Her physical stance had faltered; her shoulders were slumped forward and she had yet to look me in the eye.

"You're lying. There's no way you could've hated last night, you put way too much care and effort into taking care of Sophie and me last night. People don't go through even a fraction of what you did last night for people they hate and they definitely don't go around giving blowjobs to people they hate." I covered Sophie's ears at the last part, not wanting to pollute her little mind.

"Ugh!" she scoffed getting up from the chair. It hurt a little when I realized that she was no longer wearing my t-shirt. Instead, her body was fully covered in the pencil skirt and blouse that she'd worn when she came over yesterday.

"Let me tell you something McCarty, I really don't care how you feel about last night, but I can assure you that it's never going to happen again. As a matter of fact, I don't think we should see each other for a while, so find another baby store to shop at!"

In that moment, all of the hopes that I had… all the aspirations of Rose being there with Sophie and I vanished before my eyes.

"Why are you saying this Rosalie? Did I do something wrong? Tell me and we can fix it." I pleaded. This woman was turning me into sappy mush but I didn't care, I wanted her no matter how pathetic I sounded.

"First of all Emmett, there is no _we_. And second of all I have a boyfriend – a boyfriend who loves me very much. What happened last night was a dumb mistake, ok? So just let it go already!"

I didn't know how to react. Did she want me to yell at her, call her out on her bluff, or just ask her to get the fuck out of my house? I was completely confused; I mean I did understand that she had a boyfriend and that she felt guilty about what happened last night. But why the hell was she being so mean? I was way better than her doorknob of a boyfriend anyway.

We both stood there just staring at each other for a long time. I didn't want to be the first one to make a decision… she could do whatever the hell she wanted for all I cared.

What I didn't take into consideration was Sophie's newfound friendship with Rose interrupting our silent battle. My baby was squirming in my arms in an attempt to get to Rosalie. I held onto her better so that she wouldn't slip out of my arms, ensuring that her tiny body was from falling. My heart ached as she cried her tiny arms still outstretched for Rosalie… she was far too young to understand what was happening.

In a nanosecond Rose's expression became pained at Sophie's obvious distress. Her lean hand twitched at her side as she almost instantly raised her arm up to Sophie and dropped it back down.

That was all it took, her action was like a bullet through my heart. Not only was she choosing Royce over me, but she was letting our anger come between her and Sophie… Rosalie didn't deserve us.

I snapped.

"Just get out!"

Surprisingly the ice-cold bitch actually flinched at how harsh I was. Thankfully, she wasted no time in collecting her things and walking out of the door.

* * *

It has been four days since mine and Rosalie's altercation… four days since she left. I wasn't at all surprised that she hadn't tried to get in touch with me. I fact I was fucking elated! It only helped to add to my list of things to hate about her – a list that I was fighting to put together.

My laptop screen seemed in a faraway place and not directly in front of me where it actually was. Rosalie would just invade my thoughts, obstructing me from performing everyday tasks. Going to bed was one such case since my bedroom was no longer a safe haven. It was flooded with memories of her; her scent was still on my pillow.

Nothing, however, compared to the dreadful task of bringing Sophie home. She missed Rosalie tons more than I did… or maybe she just showed it more than I did.

Right after Rosalie left on Saturday, Sophie took hours to console. She positioned herself at the front door waiting…

Every day since then, she'd crawl over to the front door every time a car passed in the street, and wait for someone who wasn't going to come back. I'd then have to comfort her and calm her down.

My heart couldn't take it, I felt like if I was failing her as a parent. I'm her 'Da Da.' The man she depended on to protect her and shield her from pain and I couldn't do that… she was too young to understand.

The loud buzzing of my cell on the metal desk brought me back to reality. I answered even though I didn't recognize the number.

"Hello?"

"Hey, I'm trying to get through to Emmett McCarty." The voice sounded familiar but I couldn't put a face to it.

"Yes this is Emmett. Who's asking?"

"Oh Emmett it's Jasper Hale, Rosalie's brother."

Wow, why would Jasper be calling me? Did something happen to Rosalie?

"We really need to talk Emmett, and it cannot be said over the phone. Is it possible that we can meet somewhere, preferably today?" He continued.

"Uh… sure, I was actually going to pack up and leave work now; we could meet up at the coffeehouse on 2nd street, I can be there in the next ten minutes." I offered. My curiosity had been sparked; I had to know what he called me for. To know that there was nothing wrong with Rose. Although she wasn't my favorite person in the world at the moment, I still cared about her.

"That's perfect, I'll meet you then."

My favourite table in the coffeehouse was free so I claimed it and ordered a small cappuccino and a cream cheese bagel to munch on. Jasper didn't take long to show up; he walked in with Jackson strolling beside him, holding onto his leg.

"Hey Emmett, what's up?" he shook my hand and sat down on the seat opposite to mine, pulling his shy toddler into his lap.

"I'm alright." I shrugged.

He was direct and straight to business, "I'm here to talk about Rose."

I nodded slowly, unsure as to whether or not I wanted to know what he was going to say to me.

His voice was like death as he continued, "Royce hurt her."

My eyes widened in shock as I looked up at him, "Is she ok? I mean… what happened."

"Yes, she's alright at the moment, just shaken up. He roughed her up last night when he went over to her place; he was drunk and he was also upset because she didn't meet him at the airport. He'd just returned from a business trip."

"This has to be the fourth time in the last three years it could be more if she hasn't mentioned some occasions. He'll come home drunk and upset about something and just lash out on her."

I was barely able to think straight as I sat there; I was so upset how could a man physically and purposefully hurt a woman?

"Why doesn't she leave him?"

"Because she thinks she loves him and all that crap. This is why I need your help.

I gulped, "My help?"

"Yeah. Look, I've noticed that Rose likes you… I mean she really likes you and she adores Sophie. Maybe you can use that to help her see what an idiot Royce is, because I can't get her to leave him or press charges."

"You want me to make her cheat on him? I'm not that kind of guy, Jasper."

"That's not what you were saying last weekend when she slept over." He deadpanned.

_Ah, well played Jasper Hale_.

"You know about that?"

"Of course I know about that, we're twins; there are hardly any secrets between us." Jasper and I continued talking about how Rose and I would be perfect for each other. The fact was however that he thought anyone would be better than Royce.

Maybe he was right though. Rose was in denial but it was obvious that we had good chemistry.

"What do you want me to do?" I asked Jasper. I would do anything to rid her of the scum she called her boyfriend.

* * *

The traffic lights had been red long enough for me to think that they were malfunctioning. The eternally long wait made it seem as though I should just give up. I could turn back and let my babysitter enjoy her Friday night just like any sixteen year old would want to.

_No… I must fight the urge to chicken out_. Royce cannot win this.

The plan seemed legitimate enough. Jasper invited me to Rose's half of their 29th birthday party. Apparently every year they held their parties on different date so that they didn't have to compromise on the guest list. Rose chose today even though her actual birthday was two days later.

Basically I was supposed to crash the party and highlight all of the selfish and insensitive things that Royce did all night. And by extension, I was to show her how a real man, (yours truly) treated a real woman.

The plan was simple in thought but I was sure it would be difficult to execute.

I followed the directions that Jasper gave me to Rose's house to the letter, and pulled up in front of a row of townhouses. The numerous cars that were parked in front of one house in particular told me that I'd come to the right place. I parked the car and grabbed my cell phone and Rose's gift.

"Hey Emmett!" I turned around to see Jasper approaching with a petite woman with spiky black hair tucked into his side.

"Gosh I'm so glad that you showed up, man." he continued. "Oh, this is my lovely wife Alice and Alice this is Rose's friend Emmett." He said gesturing between us.

It was almost comical how much Alice had to crane her neck up to look at my face. She held out her hand and I took it surprised at how strong she was.

_Hmm, I guess tiny packs a punch._

"Rose didn't lie, you are a piece of man candy." She gushed.

"Aww… well I try." I joked elated that Rose was chatting with her girlfriends about me. We all laughed at my joke before Jasper suggested that we go inside.

We were greeted at the door by a prick with piercing gray eyes, painfully neat hair and a perfectly tailored suit. It had to be Royce.

"Hello Jasper, Alice and whoever the fuck you are." He snarled as he looked at me. I thought of a million good comebacks and even of flooring him with my fist but Jasper beat me to it in a more – shall we say – cordial manner.

"He's a friend of Rose's, they went to college together. He just moved here so I invited him over. Facebook's good for reunions, isn't it?" Jasper smiled innocently.

"Whatever." He snarled before disappearing back inside of the townhouse.

I rolled my eyes at his attempt at hospitality before following Jasper and Alice inside of the townhouse. Music was pumping and I could see people walking around, some were dancing but I still hadn't spotted Rose as yet.

"I think you should wait here, Alice and I will go find Rosalie."

I nodded and walked over to a nearby table that was filled with a variety of appetizers. I immediately began snacking on some chips and salsa sauce.

"So who are you? I haven't seen you around here before." A female voice purred from beside me. When my eyes focused on where the voice was coming from, they were in for a treat – and not in a good way. The woman standing beside me embodied the term fake. Her hair was bleach blonde, her lips were plumped so much that they looked stiff. But what trumped all were her boobs; they looked like balloons that were about to pop at any moment.

I silently groaned then replied, "Well I'm a friend of Rosalie's."

"Oh and when you say friend do you mean that you dated or that you're just friends."

"We're just friends, will you excuse me I need to find a seat." I rolled my eyes; _I need to find a seat_. Was that really the best excuse I could come up with?

"Oh it's ok, there's a free one next to where I was. Let's go."

I followed her while she continued, "I'm glad that you and Rosalie were just friends, 'cause trust me when I say, she's a place that many a man has been in,"

My jaw clenched in anger, there was nothing in the world that I disliked more than gossipers and fake friends.

"So you came to Rosalie's birthday party just to bad mouth her?"

"Just ignore her Emmett. She's like one of those itches that you can't scratch. A pain in the ass." I heard her voice softly behind me and a smile instantly came to my face. I forgot why I was even mad at her. Fake girl wasted not time in scurrying away.

I turned around to face Rose and gave her a once over. She looked absolutely stunning. Her long tresses fell in subtle waves down her back. The low-cut black dress that she had on accentuated her hourglass figure perfectly, leaving little to the imagination. And then there was the pair of sexy strappy stilettos that she was wearing.

"Uh… Happy birthday." I told her smiling as I shoved my gift out to her. She expressed her gratitude before grabbing my hand and pulling me across the room and through a door that left us alone in what looked like a study area. There was a large amount of books stacked high with large leather bound books.

Rosalie seemed to be trying to catch her bearings.

"Why are you here, Emmett?" she brushed some of her hair from her face and it was then I noticed the damage that the fucker did. There were faint purple marks on her neck, but they were too deeply coloured to be disguised under the makeup she had on. I could see the clear outline of fingers… _did her strangle her_? When she realized that I was staring at her bruise Rosalie quickly pushed her hair forward in an attempt to hide her marks.

"I heard about what Royce did, Jasper told me. What happened Rose? Why did he hurt you?"

She sighed nervously. "It was my fault, really. He was coming back from a business trip, but I mixed up the dates. I had my phone on silent – that was a big mistake, and I was unable to answer his calls. He was mad… with good reason." She added the last part at the end really quickly, like if she was trying to make me help her rationalize why he got violent with her.

"Are you hearing yourself? Rose, there's never an excuse for people hitting each other, you know that."

"He didn't hit me Emmett he just – "

"He just strangled you, right? Jesus Rosalie! I can't believe you're making excuses for him!"

"It's not like that Emmett, you don't understand… I have to stay with him. I owe him at least that."

"Owe him? For what?" she had a sad look in her eyes which ebbed away my anger making me want to comfort her. To try to understand what she was saying.

"We've been together for four years now. The second year I realized that I was pregnant. Royce and I were so happy; we'd always talk about how we'd want to have kids together. I knew he'd be a good dad, he was always kind and gentle."

She looked up at me and smiled faintly, "He just wanted to be a dad and I was happy to give him what he wanted. The pregnancy was hard on me though. I spent the majority of time in the hospital; I lost weight rather than gained. But it was ok, you know? The kind of love that Royce and I had for our unborn daughter was indescribable. We just wanted to see her and play with her…"

"What happened?" I asked her, brushing away some of her tears that were now falling.

"She was premature. I told the doctors that she wasn't ready to be born yet but they still induced labour six months into the pregnancy. They wanted her to be born as fast as possible since the survival rate of both her and I was higher if I didn't go to a full term pregnancy. My body was too weak to continue support the two of us, and she died the day after she was born." A few more silent tears flowed from her eyes.

"It's alright Rose." I told her as I wrapped my arms around her, holding onto her tightly.

She calmed slightly, "Since then Royce hasn't been the same. He really wants a child and he has all of this pent up anger since we lost the baby. We used to live together in this house but he moved out last year, it was for my safety I think. He said that he didn't want to be around me when he drank… I understand why now."

"He might seem like an asshole to you guys, but he's so gently and caring with me once he's sober. I know a baby will make everything better and we've been trying but…" she trailed off.

While Royce didn't have an excuse for his abusive behavior, I guess I could understand why he was such a prick. I don't know what I'd do or how I'd react if something happened to Sophie, I mean, I'd already lost her mother… I couldn't survive losing her too.

I had one more question for Rosalie, "What was her name, your daughter, I mean?"

She smiled fondly as she fiddled with her fingers, "We called her, Sophie."

"Are you joking?" I asked completely flabbergasted at the coincidence that both our daughters had the same name.

She shook her head and in that moment I knew that Rosalie and I were truly meant to be. "There's no way we met coincidently… we're made for each other."

"I know."

"Well…leave him."

* * *

**Well there it is guys, tell what you think : )**


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hey guys, i know its been a long time. But my mom died and I just wasn't in the mood to write, frankly. **

** But I'm back now with a new chapter, I hope you like it. Oh Btw im on twitter now and i inted 2 use it so follow me if you like, i'll be talking suggestions for future chapters for all of my stories.**

**Chapter Seven**

Rosalie told me to lay low for the rest of the party, this way no one would suspect that there was anything going on between us. So, in an attempt to do what she asked, I went over to where Jasper's wife, Alice, was sitting and the two of us started making small talk.

"So… what did she tell you?" Alice asked excitedly.

I couldn't help but smile at her; she was loveable ball of energy. "Rose said that she's going to dump him, she understands that he's a piece of crap and hopefully, we'll be together soon." I shrugged

"Gosh that's great, I'm glad that someone finally talked some sense into her, she definitely deserves someone better than that idiot. She's worked too hard to be where she is to have him treating her like that, ya know?"

"Tell me about it." I smiled as I changed our topic of conversation. "So, how long have you and Jasper been married?"

"Well, five years, but we've been dating since we were freshmen in high school. I had just moved here and Rose and I became best friends instantly." she smiled fondly, "Anyway, one day Rose brought me home with her after school and Jasper was there, sparks flew and well… here we are today."

"Wow, you two have been together for a longtime."

"Uh huh." She mumbled before taking a sip on the drink she had in her hand. A comfortable silence fell between us so; I casually allowed my eyes to roam the room. I noticed Rose and Royce in a corner of the living room that we were in, he had her pressed up to a wall and was placing kisses on her neck.

I felt a small hand on my shoulder, giving me a reassuring squeeze.

"Don't worry she graduated from NYU with a degree theatre arts, you'll win, she's only putting on a show. So just take a deep breath and relax." Alice told me, she and I both knew that I was on a short fuse and that I'd trip from the moment I realized that she favoured Royce over me.

"I hope so." I grumbled my eyes still fixed on the two of them. He was now guiding her over to the centre of the room. Once they'd stopped walking, Royce placed a kiss on her forehead and picked up one of the champagne glasses that was on a buffet table in front of them.

"Hey everyone listen up!" he shouted above the music whilst knocking a spoon on the glass in order to draw attention to himself. The DJ muted the music and, as if on cue, an old guy dressed like a butler walked out of a swinging door which I assumed led to the kitchen. He had a serving tray that held a bottle of champagne, which he handed to Royce.

Everyone in the room was transfixed on what was taking place before them.

"Rosie baby, I don't know if you can recall but this right here," he gestured to the bottle in his hand, "is the same champagne that we had while we were vacationing in Monte Carlo, two years ago it's the one that we used to celebrate when you first opened up your store, remember?"

"Yes." She smiled brightly, her eyes fixed on him; she was just drinking up all of the bullshit that he was trying to sell her.

"It was almost impossible to find, but I found it. I thought that back then was a defining moment in our lives and I also thought that we should keep up with tradition and toast with it tonight. Hopefully I'll make this the best birthday of your life… a day worth special celebrating."

I assumed that that was the second cue, because the butler guy took the bottle from Royce and poured some of it into two of the champagne glasses on the table. Then the swinging door at the far end of the room burst open again and about ten waiters came out. Each had a single serving tray propped high that was filled with champagne glasses to be served to the guests. I had an ominous feeling as I took my glass of champagne from one of the waiters' trays.

Once everyone had gotten their glass, Royce then slowly slipped onto one knee never breaking eye contact with Rose. He pulled out a Tiffany blue box from his jacket pocket and my stomach started doing flip flops.

"Rosie, I've spent the last four years of my life with you, completely in awe of how absolutely perfect you are. I know you can agree with me when I say that we have experienced everything, from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows together. We've survived it all Rosie and the love that I have for you has only gotten stronger and stronger. So," he continued as he took a sparkling white gold diamond ring from the box, "Rosalie Hale, I'm here on my knee humbly asking you to spend the rest of your life with me, to have my children and grow old with me. I promise I'll be the perfect husband so, please Rosie be my Mrs. King." He finished as he slipped the ring onto her finger.

In a perfect world, Rosalie would have rolled her eyes at Royce, taken the ring off, and chucked it at him and run across the room into my awaiting arms. Sadly however, I was living in reality where Rose said, "Of Course I'd marry you Royce!" Where she jumped into his arms instead of mine and kissed him.

I had never in my life felt as betrayed as I did then. I literally wanted to gouge my eyes out rather than look at how happy they were, _she was such a selfish lying bitch!_

I made no attempt to leave subtly; I shoved my glass back onto the waiter's tray, glared at Alice when she tried to hold me back, flipped the happy couple the bird and slammed the door shut on my departure.

* * *

By now it had probably been three days since Rosalie's birthday. I couldn't be sure… everything became a blur. I stopped eating, sleeping and started making up excuses not to go to work. There was one thing I was certain of however, it was that today Rose and her brother had finally decided to stop calling my phone and leaving messages with their stupid apologies, and I couldn't be happier. At least that's what I was telling myself, but we all know that happy people don't just spend all of their time vegging out on the couch, ignoring everything around them, even their own child. Luckily Alec came over and rescued Sophie from the side effects of my broken heart.

The front door slammed shut and I could hear Alec's footsteps on the hardwood floors. _I guess he and Sophie came back from their walk,_ I thought dryly. I quickly turned my body on the couch and pretended that I wasn't sleeping so that he wouldn't bug me.

"Not so fast big guy, we saw that." Alec said. I turned around and he was there standing there with Sophie, smiling at me.

"Go away."

"No I won't go away! Look at yourself man; you're behaving like a baby! You need to get out of that couch and get your act together."

"Why don't you just leave me alone? I am so tired of you harassing me all the time."

"You're tired of me harassing you!" Alec shouted completely taken aback by what I'd said. "Well I'm very sorry that I'm a concerned friend who cares, not only about you but your baby who would have probably starved to death if I hadn't come over here!"

"That's not true!" I shouted back.

"Stop trying to act as though you can't remember what was happening when I popped in on Sunday morning! How Sophie was screaming because you were too caught up in your stupid problems to feed her and change her diaper. You're lucky that I didn't call social services on your sorry ass!"

"That's not true!" I shouted again. "Besides, we don't need you so why don't just give me my daughter and get the hell out of my house!"

"Over my dead body! You're in no condition to look after her! You disgust me! I cannot believe that I used to admire you and how well you handled yourself and Sophie after Brooke died; you let a woman ruin everything! Wake up Emmett she doesn't even care about you, you're so stupid!"

"Get out!" I growled.

"Fine I'll go if you want me to, but I'm taking Sophie with me! And if you try to stop me, I will report you to social services, one look at your sorry ass and they'd be begging me to take Sophie away from you!"

"Ahhh!"

Alec's and my eyes both averted to Sophie, who was crying.

"Shh, it's alright Soph." He tried, but Alec's attempts to sooth her were futile, he didn't know the technique.

"Come on hand her over." I told him calmly, all of the harsh words that we'd just exchanged seemed trivial to me now.

I think Alec felt the same way too since her smiled and joked, "I can't Em, you haven't taken a shower in two days. I mean, I know we want her to calm down but, not because she's dead."

My loud laugh escaped me because of what he said, "You're such an idiot, and I do not smell that bad! Just give me my daughter."

"Alright, but just make sure that the police know that I warned you, when they arrest you for her murder." He chuckled shaking his head and giving me Sophie, who was still wailing.

"It's alright Sophie Bear, dadda's sorry he made you cry, actually I'm sorry about everything that I put you through the last few days." I apologized. I adjusted her on my hip and looked down into her tired eyes.

Sophie had fallen asleep soon after and Alec and I sat on the couch talking.

"Look I'm sorry for what I said man, I was just so fed up with seeing you so mopey all of the time." Alec apologized.

I shook my head, "Please don't apologize, and I needed to hear every word that you told me. I'm the one who should be apologizing for being such a selfish prick."

"So," Alec started, "I was thinking while I was walking Sophie and maybe you should listen to all of those voice messages that they left for you.

"Nah man I don't think so, you were right just now, she doesn't care about me, I think that's obvious." I muttered glumly.

"Since when do you take my word for anything? Besides, I don't know shit about love man that's why I'm still single." He smiled, "But I'll tell you what, a woman like Rosalie wouldn't just come over and take care of you and your kid when you were sick, if she didn't care about you. I honestly think that she's just afraid to leave Royce. The truth is though, that the only way to find out is to check the messages that she left you."

"You really think so?"

He shrugged, "Who knows? Besides, the sooner you know what's up with her, the sooner you can move on."

I spent some time before I decided to check the messages. I instantly skipped Jasper's messages, mostly because I felt that he had no right meddling in mine and Rose's business. But I don't think I was mentally prepared for the messages that I got from Rosalie. They were – well frankly put, scary!

In her first few messages she apologized and told me that she knew that she'd made the worst mistake of her life, but as the messages continued she started saying things like "I'm so scared Emmett please call me back, he's so angry with me." Her last message, was where all of the pieces came together, she was practically pleading with me to call her. "He knows about the night I spent with you Emmett!" That was the last thing that she was able to say to me, next thing I heard was a loud thud which I guessed was the phone falling to the floor and she started crying louder. "Royce you're drunk, don't hurt me please!" she begged, "Please don't hurt me!"

"Oh trust me, I'll do a lot more than just hurt you, ya little cunt!"

"Fuck!" I exclaimed as I pressed the end button on my cell and jumped up from my seat.

"What's wrong?" Alec questioned, startled by my outburst.

"He's hurting her! I have to go to her and make sure she's ok – boy when I get my hands on him." I grunted as I threw on my jacket and my car keys and made my way to the door. "Watch Sophie, Alec."

When I got into my car I tried to call Rose's cell, but it went straight to her voicemail.

Shit!

I dialed Jasper's number next.

He picked up on the first ring, "Hello?"

"Jasper it's me, where's Rose?"

"You, decided to call now Emmett? You have shit timing you know!" he shouted making me feel guilty. I heard some muffled noises before Alice came onto the phone.

"Emmett, you have to forgive Jasper for his attitude, he's a bit stressed at the moment. We're at St. Patrick's Private Hospital, in the ICU ward when you get here we'll talk." She hung up abruptly.

It didn't matter to me that I'd committed at least a dozen traffic violations as I sped over to the hospital. Once in the parking lot I dropped my car into the nearest empty parking lot and ran into the lobby area where I asked for directions to the ICU ward.

When I got there Alice and Jasper were sitting in the very sterile looking waiting room.

"What's going on? Which room is hers?" I asked frantically while quickly walking closer to them.

"You fucking care now? You know you have some nerve showing up here!" Jasper shouted at me, his fists balled at his sides. I couldn't even think of how to respond to him, he was just so… well… angry and totally evil looking.

"Jasper," Alice said in a warning tone placing her hand on his shoulder, "calm down."

"No! I will not calm down! He was the only one she trusted Alice. She didn't call you or me when that asshole was – was…" he sighed. "The fact of the matter is that he didn't care to even answer her call and listen to what she had to say. Hell, he's probably happy that he beat her up!" he growled angrily.

"Jasper!" Alice shouted in warning again. She was just about to continue saying something when a tall, dark skinned nurse walked into the waiting room.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you all to leave if you don't shut up! There are actually sick people in here and it's not going to help them feel any better if you keep shouting so much!" she scolded.

"You don't have to ask me twice." Jasper huffed as he stormed off out of the room.

"Well good then." The nurse called behind him. She then turned to us, "I assume you two won't be yappin' as loudly as before." She told us before leaving us.

"I swear Jasper's handling this whole thing worse than Rose." Alice smiled apologetically.

"Where is Rosalie?"

"She's in the last room down the hall." Alice replied pointing with her hand.

I sighed and scratched my head nervously, "Can I go see her?"

"I'm not so sure she'll be okay with that right now Emmett."

"But I need to see her and tell her that I fucked up for not being there." I pleaded with Alice. I was amazing how quickly I'd forgotten that the woman I was dying to see now was the same one who broke my heart three days ago.

"Emmett…" she paused, "I guess there is no nice way of saying this but, he raped her and he beat her up pretty badly. She's really shaken up and scared of men at the moment. Rose didn't even want to see Jasper and they had to refer her to a female doctor."

"Shit!" I whispered. There was this sudden rush of mixed emotions running through my body. How could he treat her like that, like if she was a piece of trash? She was an angel, not someone's sperm bucket. I knew for sure that there was no way I could let Royce get away with this. "Where is Royce?" I asked through clenched teeth.

"He took the easy way out." She mumbled vaguely before continuing, "he locked himself in his car and gassed himself… he's dead."

I was amazed that I got even angrier than before. _That fucker took the easy way out_! Didn't he know that I had plans for him? Plans that involved pain?

"It's better that way." Alice reasoned.

"I guess." I answered shortly.

The same nurse that had come to us earlier returned with a kind smile on her face.

"I have good news; Ms. Hale has told me that she'd like you to call a Mr. McCarty for her he's the person that she wants to see." She said to Alice completely ignoring me.

"He's standing right here." I told her sheepishly; uncertain as to whether or not I really wanted to see the damage that Royce had done to her.

"Good good, well go in," she ushered me down the hall and continued talking, "but no long conversations or anything like that, she's had some serious head trauma and her medication's going to make her tired, so when she's ready, let her sleep." By this time we were both standing right outside Rosalie's room and I couldn't help but feel anxious about what I'd see when I went inside.

"Well what are you waiting for? Christmas? Go in she needs you." The nurse whispered smiling.

I took a deep breath, opened the door and stepped in.

"I really didn't expect to see you." Rosalie whispered before I could shut the door behind me. Her voice was raspy. When my eyes focused in her direction, my heart literally stopped when I saw the damage he'd done. She was battered and bruised in every sense of the words, two black eyes, a busted lip and blue black marks everywhere the eye could see.

A lone tear slipped from my eye as I sat down at the edge of her bed.

"I'm so sorry, Rose if I hadn't been so selfish this would've never happened." I cupped her cheek and rubbed it gently.

"Let's not talk about any of it." She told me solemnly.

"What do you want to do then?"

"Just lay here with me and hold me Em, it's the only way I'll feel safe." She pleaded her green eyes full of tears.

"Babe, I won't ever let you go." I promised and once I'd kicked off my shoes, I eased my excessively large body onto the bed.

"You think maybe I could stay at your place for a while, after I get out of here?" She asked. "I'm not sure I'd be able to stay by myself and I really don't want to stay with Jasper."

"Of course," I kissed her forehead, "anything for you, Rosie."

She stiffened in my arms then, and I patted her back soothingly, I could feel her tears moistening my t-shirt.

"What's the matter? What did I do wrong?"

"Rosie is _his_ name; _he's_ the only one who used to use it." She sobbed, "Please don't call me that."

"It's okay Rose. It's fine, I'm sorry I'll never call you that again. I promise." I told her frantically, but she continued to cry.

I had never felt so useless, she just continued crying, breaking my heart more and more with each sob.

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**Alright so leave some love and suggestions,**

**love you guys lots,**

**Erin.**


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N: **

**Before you guys read this, I have to apologize, I know that the writing is not my best. For some reason I couldn't make this chapter work, it's meant to be a filler chapter and I was having difficulties. Things should get better in the next chapter when Sophie get back home though so stick around till then.**

Chapter Eight

It had been five long days before the doctor decided that Rosalie was well enough to go home. So because of that, I didn't go to the hospital to visit her this morning and instead, I was busy making my humble abode perfect for my guest. I'd cleaned everything from top to bottom, went grocery shopping and bought more or less everything in the store (I didn't know what she liked so I got everything) and I cooked sloppy joes, Rose's favourite meal for her welcome home lunch.

Jasper was supposed to drop her off here as soon as she was discharged which I expected would be very soon. Needless to say I was not looking forward to meeting up with him, because he was still angry at me.

"Well I think that's it." I said to no one in particular, taking dining room. It was a masterpiece; I'd lit candles, which bathed the golden coloured room with pale amber light giving it just the atmosphere that I wanted. And to add to the effect I placed bouquets of jasmine, violet and iris on random surfaces throughout the room.

Just as I was about to go peep out of the window to see if Jasper and Rosalie had gotten here yet, I heard two staccato car horn beeps signaling their arrival. I rushed over to the front door, from there I could see Rose and Jasper having some type of tense discussion in the car and by the time I was walking toward them she got out and pulled out her two heavy bags. Jasper didn't even help her he just sped off once she'd cleared his car. I jogged down the cobblestone walkway of my front yard in order to help her with her bags.

From there we silently walked up the pathway, side by side. It was literally the most uncomfortable silence I'd ever had to experience in my thirty-three years of life. The hardest part was that I didn't know what to say to make it better, Rose was just sending off signals that had 'fuck off' stamped all over them.

Rose had transformed so much over the past few days. At first I was really hopeful about the whole getting better thing. I mean she was happy at first, but then Jasper continued his bitching and she started to remember more and more things about _that_ night as time went on, and eventually the situation had gotten so bad that she could only sleep if I was at her side.

Now, she was just going through the motions, she smiled if you asked her to, ate if you told her to, she was just a phantom, shut off from the world.

"I fixed the guest bedroom up for you." I announced once we'd gotten inside, hoping to break the silence. I failed however, because I was only replied with the sound of her bags hitting the floor when I dropped them. She was busy inspecting the foyer area, searching its pale blue walls meticulously. "You wanna go up and check it out?" I prodded gently.

"Where's Sophie?" she asked, her voice thick and raspy. She was still looking at everything else but me.

"She's with her godfather."

"When's she coming back?"

"In the morning, I thought it'd be better if you got to settle in with some peace and quiet. As soon as she comes home she's going to have you super active." I smiled.

Once again she didn't reply and there was a long silence between us. It was so quiet that you could actually hear the large teak grandfather clock ticking from the other side of the wall.

I actually startled when Rosalie spoke, "Jasper's really mad at me. He thinks that I've made a bad decision coming to stay here. He doesn't understand that it doesn't make me feel any better when he's walking around arguing with me all the time, and Alice is pregnant he doesn't know yet but… I don't think it's a good idea for me to add any more stress to her life right now." She sighed heavily her eyes were filled with tears that she refused to let fall.

I walked over to her and held her in my arms, "He's not mad at you, you know. He's mad at the situation. He'll come around soon enough." I promised.

She mumbled something unintelligible and pulled away from me.

"I made us lunch, it's your favourite!" I said excitedly, and to no surprise she didn't smile or jump for joy or anything like that, she just smiled a small sad smile.

"I'm not hungry."

"But, there's a giant sloppy joe on the table that has your name written all over it."

My reasoning had no apparent effect on her.

"I'll have them some other time, just take me to my room, ok?"

I sighed, "Fine, if that's what you want." I couldn't even help my voice from cracking as I spoke. I was hurt and confused.

We made our way upstairs and entered the room. I rested her bags down next to the large teak armoire that was near to the door. Gesturing to the closet I explained to her that I cleaned it out so that she'd have some room for her stuff.

"Thanks." She replied softly.

"Okay, well I'll be in the livingroom if you need me."

Shutting the door behind me I walked downstairs. I had accepted defeat. All I wanted was for her to open up to me, just let me in so that I could help.

_Maybe she needed more time_.

I looked into the dining room and resisted the urge to knock over every vase that I'd put into the room. The candlelight and the perfectly set table seemed to mock me. Even the smell of the meat sauce I'd cooked and the sight of the bottle of wine I bought no longer excited me.

To distract myself I dialed Alec's number on my cell, and walked over to the couch.

"Hey man." He sounded exhausted. "I don't know how you do this whole parenting thing all the time, I so spent! She doesn't ever stop!"

"Well that's parenting." Was my monotone, dry response.

"What's up your butt dude? Did Rosalie get there yet?"

"Yup."

"And…"

"And… I don't know if I can do this, Alec. She's so sad and hapless all the time. I can't make her happy,"

"Nobody said it'd be easy!" Alec sang in tune to the popular Coldplay song.

I chuckled , "You're such an ass man!"

"Hey I'm just telling you the truth!"

By the way, what's my girl up to?"

"Uh… she's playing peek-a-boo with her own reflection. She's so darn cute! I got her an old box that I had and I put her in it and she's been playing peek-a-boo with her reflection in that long mirror that I have at the end of the hallway ever since." He replied excitedly.

"Let me talk to her."

"Okay hold on a sec." I heard some muffled sounds and Alec whisper 'it's daddy.'

"He Sophie bear."

"Hi dada." She replied in her cute little baby voice, the only two English words she knew. Everything went downhill from there… she continued talking in her 'ada, gana, ababa,' language and I, being the ever supportive father that I was, just smiled and kept mumbling 'uh huh' or asking 'really?' occasionally so that she'd continue talking.

Eventually she grew bored, so I told Alec to give her a big kiss for me and ended the call.

* * *

I woke up disoriented. I looked around me anxiously. I was abruptly brought out of my sleep by a blood crawling scream. I quickly jumped up from the couch.

"Fuck." I hissed as my big toe made contact with one of the legs of my coffee table. The house was completely dark… apparently I'd fallen asleep for hours and it was now nightfall.

I quickly flew upstairs flipping on any lights that I passed along the way until I was standing just outside the guest bedroom. The door was opened and I could just make out Rosalie's form on the bed, from the hallway light.

She was fidgeting frantically and pleading with someone, "Please stop you're hurting me." Goosebumps spread over my skin as I watched what was taking place before me. Her head kept, turning from side to side and she was whimpering. Yet every now and then, a small moan would escape her lips… the type of moan that any sexually active person could recognize.

She was reliving the rape in her dreams.

I let out a breath to steady myself, and then I took small timid steps until I was at her bedside.

She was gripping onto the bed sheets so tightly that her knuckles were white, and her feet were wildly kicking off some unknown assailant. I knelt down next to the bed and brought my hand to her sweat moistened cheek.

"Rose wake up! It's alright, I'm here." If anything she started panicking more in her dream; her actions became more erratic and harsh. I knew that I had to wake her but she was so deep into her dream that I didn't know how.

I brought my hands to her sides and held her clenched fists gently prying them open so that I could intertwine our fingers.

With a loud gasp she flew up in the bed, looking around her frantically.

"Em?" she said finally as her eyes met mine.

"I'm here." I squeezed her hand reassuringly.

"Why'd you let me go to sleep without you? I was scared and you weren't there."

"I'm sorry! I fell asleep on the chair downstairs. I didn't mean to leave you alone. But I'm here now" I told her smoothing her disheveled blonde hair.

"Will you lay with me now?"

"Babe, you haven't eaten all day. Let's have something to eat and then we can go back to bed." I reasoned, caressing her cheek.

"I'm not hungry." She replied indignantly.

"You have to have something… at least a glass of milk."

"Fine, I'll have it."

"You want me to bring it up here to you, or are you going to come downstairs with me."

"I'll come down."

"Good."

I smiled to myself as I remembered the last time she'd spent the night in my house, I wondered if she'd ever be that happy again, if things would ever be so simple again. I had little hope that they would, that it would be an impossibly long and difficult road, before we could get there. For now I'd just to have to settle for her drinking a glass of milk.

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**I know it's short but things will get better in the next chapter.**


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